Unexpected Connection

CHAPTER 7

    "Aren't you going to tell me?" I ask.  

    "Huh... I'm thirsty, be right back" Eli says and walks off the dance floor leaving me behind.

    "Hey" Asher says from behind me.

    "Hey"

    "Let's dance" Asher says and we move to the music. "Why did Eli run off like that?" 

    "Beats me. He told me that his girlfriend broke up with me because she said he likes someone else and Eli said she's right" I explain. Asher stops moving.

    "Eli told you there is someone else he likes?" Ash asks.

    "Yes"

    "He said that?", I nod. "Did he tell you who it is?"

    "That's the weird part. He wouldn't tell me who it is. He just kept looking at me and then he ran off. Do you know who it is?"

    "What no, how would I know? I don't know anything? what is happening? stop questioning me" Ash rambles. He gets like this when he is lying to me.

    "What do you know?" I ask him.

    "Would you look at that, I am thirsty. I would be back" he says monotonously and walks away. What are they hiding? I think it's time I leave the dance floor, people are going to begin to think I have a problem because two dance partners have ran away.

It seems I have found myself with a date, I do not know where Asher or Eli are. I walk to the refreshment table and take a glass of champagne. I don't think I should touch the seafood buffet, the hall is getting heated. Sea food and heat do not go together. I see Heather and Ian talking at a corner, it kind of looks like they are arguing. Heather walks out the center as I take a sip my drink, Ian follows a moment later. I walk outside with them, curiosity getting the better of me. I see them ahead of me walking towards the side of the building. I wait a bit for them to walk ahead before I turn the corner. 

You should never follow people outside again, Liliana. Stay where you are.

I turn the corner and I freeze. 

Why are they kissing? Why is he kissing her? I guess they were not arguing.

It feels like my heart is breaking but why? It's not like I am seeing my boyfriend cheating me but why does it still hurt. I can still here the music playing inside but it feels like everywhere is silent, I can only hear my pounding heart. I hold on to the glass in my hand and it shatters cutting my hand. the pain of the cut feels like nothing compared to what I feel in my heart. Why do I feel like the knife in my back got twisted, I thought he didn't like Heather anymore. I guess they got back together. 

    "Lily?" I hear Asher call from behind me. Ian and Heather stop kissing and look at me. Heathers looks satisfied like she knew I was here the whole time. So many emotions swim on Ian's face.

    "Lily" Asher says turning me face him. He looks at me and glares at Ian and Heather. "Your hand, it's bleeding" he says holding my hand, it is covered in blood. Ian walks towards me when he sees my hand.

    "Lily" he says.

    "No, get back to your date" Asher says standing between Ian and I. Asher guides me away from them. I walk to the bathroom on the other side of the building and wash my hand, the water stings my cut. I adjust my makeup and put on a smile. I am not fragile or weak, if Ian and Heather are back together, it's fine. I am his friend and only is friend. Friends support each other and even though I don't like Heather, bordering on strong dislike now, I would support my friend. I wrap my hand with the handkerchief Asher gave me and walk out the bathroom.

    "How are you?" Ash asks when I walk back to him.

    "I'm hungry" I tell him when we get to the front of the building.

    "Let me take you home" he says.

    "No, I'm not going. He is just my friend and he has every right to kiss whoever he wants. I am hungry, let's go inside" I say and link my arm with his leading him inside. 

    "Where were you guys?" Eli asks as we walk in.  

    "Bathroom. I cut myself" I explain. Eli takes my hand in his.

    "Sorry, should we take you home?" he asks and I shake my head. 

Ash and Eli follow me to the refreshment table. I serve the shrimp, it can't taste as worse as I feel in my stomach right now. 

    "Do you really want to do that?" Ash asks and I nod putting the shrimp in mouth. What do you know, it doesn't taste bad. I finish what's in my plate. I don't know what Eli is drinking but I grab is cup and in one gulp, I swallow the content. Whiskey. It burns my throat. 

    "Wow" Eli says when I drop his cup and plate. 

    "I know right" Ash says and they both look at me.

    "How did you cut your palm?" Eli asks. The memory of what I see fills my heard and I feel bile come up my throat. I run outside to the bushes and throw up. Why did you have to eat the shrimp, Liliana? And downing it with straight whiskey. I keep throwing up until I feel like I have lost a whole ten pounds. Okay fine, that's an exaggeration, five pounds. I've lost five pounds throwing up in the bushes.

    "Lily" I hear Ian beside me. I wipe my mouth and look up at him.

    "Are you okay?" he asks.

    "Peachy" I answer.

    "About before-" he starts and I turn around to throw up again. I feel his hand on my back, I quickly stand up, turning around to face him.

    "I'm fine" I tell me.

    "Lils" Eli calls me running towards me.

    "Yeah". He walks up to me, holding my shoulder and turning me to him. "I'm fine" I say and he looks at me with a raised brow. "Maybe I shouldn't have eaten the shrimps" I add pouting.

    "Maybe you shouldn't have" he says cleaning my face with his handkerchief. I feel Ian's eye borrow into my head.

    "Thanks" I say smiling. 

    "Let me take you home" Ian and Eli say at the same time both holding my arm. I look at the both of them and they are looking at each other. Okay...

    "Let me drive you home" Ian says breaking eye contact with Eli to look at me. 

    "She came with me. I'd drive you home" Eli says drawing me to him. 

I would have gone with Ian but then I just had to see Heather in the distance. She's looking left and right, I'm sure she's looking for Ian. I am almost tempted to go with Ian just so he would have to leaver her but I don't want to be in a closed space with Ian.

    "I'd go with Eli" I tell Ian removing his hand from my arm. For a split second, you can see the joy on Eli's face.

Eli guides me to Asher's car.

    "Where's Ash" I ask as we sit inside.

    "He said he would get a rode with a friend". The designated driver Asher had hired drives us home. I stretch to the front from the back and set the navigation system to Eli's house. 

    "Why? I don't mind staying with you" Eli says when I rest my back.

    "I know but I plan on sleeping immediately I get home" I say and look out the window. 

I wave goodbye to Eli when the driver stops in front of his house.

    "See you at school?" Eli asks cautiously. 

    "Tomorrow" I correct, "Barbecue". He smiles at me and waves.

After the driver drops me off and hands me Asher's keys, I made sure to tip and walk, more like drag, myself into the house. Mum and Dad are definitely sleeping so instead of going through the front door, I walk to the side of the house and climb the ladder to my room. I leave a trail of clothes as I walk to the bathroom, I wash my face and teeth and walk to bed. I haven't slept at all when I hear movement in my balcony. I get off from bed, put on a robe and walk over to my balcony.

    "What are you doing here?" I ask when I see Ian sitting down on my balcony chair. He is still wearing his party attire.

    "We need to talk about what happened earlier" he says pointing to the other chair. I sit down.

    "You don't have to explain to me, we are just friends and it doesn't matter who you decide to be with, I'd support you" I tell him.

    "Why did you go with Eli?" he asks.

    "What?" 

    "Why did you go with Eli?" he repeats. "I offered a ride but you went with Eli" he adds.

    "Is that what you came to talk about not to explain why you were kissing Heather?" I ask seriously surprised and he nods. Wow, he came here to talk about Eli.

    "So why Eli?" he asks again. 

    "I do not have to explain why to you" I say standing up.

    "Yes you do?" he says getting up.

    "No, I do not. Whoever I decide to go with or whoever you decide to kiss is neither of our business, we are just friends" I say raising my voice.

    "I didn't kiss Heather" he blurts out.

    "What?" I ask.

    "I didn't kiss her" he repeats.

    "I saw" I counter.

    "What you saw was her kissing me but I didn't kiss her back" he explains. "I had no choice today, I had to come with her to the party" he adds. I look at him.

    "Why did you not have a choice?" I ask. He turns his back to me. "Fine, do whatever you want but you don't get to whatever you want and question my own choices" I tell him.

    "Lily" he calls. I ignore and walk inside. 

***

Happy Sunday!

I love Sundays.

Why? You are wondering.

Barbecue. We host barbecue on Sundays. Our grandparents from both sides are coming too with our aunts and uncles and cousins. It's not just family, mum and dad invite their friends over who come with their kids. Barbecue Sunday isn't just about the food, it is also about the games. We play different sports each week, this Sunday, we are playing long tennis, badminton and basketball. It's about making memories and I have awesome memories from Sundays.

I walk out the shower, dry my hair and curl it giving it beach waves. I put on my makeup and wear my outfit for the day: White pleated tennis skirt, a white collared shirt under black cardigans, socks and sneakers to match. I put my hair band on my hand cause I might need it later. 

Asher and I walk to the back of the house, he is sporting a white polo shirt and black shorts. Everywhere is all set up at the back and people are already here. My dad, uncles, grandfathers and his friends are by the grills. They are competing among themselves, who can make the best barbecue. I kid you not, they all have their grills, that's right, each of them has a grill. It all happened two years ago, they were competing as always and it escalated. Guess what they did? They all went to the store and each bought a grill. Dad had to build a whole other outdoor kitchen for them, every Sunday it's like a cooking show in there. It's crazy. 

I quickly run over to them and greet them all pecking my granddads and uncles. My dad hug and kiss my forehead. they then shooed me away because, and I quote, "They have something important to do and they all busy". To another side, my mum is sitting with my aunts, grandmothers and her friends under a gazebo, they are just talking. They are probably taking about the book they read that week or what they did. I refuse to go there, they wouldn't let me go easily. Asher and I try to avoid eye contact as we walk along. We finally get to our own people, Eli is here and so are my cousins, Chris, Conner, Noah and Nathan.

Let me just out this out here, I have two aunts and two uncles. one uncle is my mum's brother, the other, my dad's. They are both married giving me two aunts. Chris and Conner are my mum's brother's kids, they are twins like Asher and I. Noah and Nathan are my dad's brother's kids, also twins. Chris and Conner are older than Asher and I  by a year while we are older than Noah and Nathan by a year. Does that make sense? I hope it did. I am the only girl among my cousins, it might I get pampered a lot but we would never know.

We all hug each other greeting. I see Ian walk over here with my mum. He's wearing a white polo too but with sky blue shorts and black baseball hat. He looks so good that I have to control myself not t drool.

    "Guess who I invited" mum says smiling.

    "Thanks for inviting me over" Ian says giving my mum the sweetest smile ever.

    "It's no problem, you are invited every Sunday" mum says and walks away.

    "Guys, this is Ian, our new friend and neighbor" I say and introduce my cousins to him.

    "Welcome" Nathan says. Asher ignores Ian and I drag him to another side.

    "Be nice, Ash" I tell him.

    "But he hurt you" he says folding his arms.

    "No, we are friends. I swear I wasn't hurt" I lie. He knows I am lying but he doesn't say anything.

    "Fine if you are sure" he says hugging me. We walk back to the group and my cousins are chatting him up.

    "What are the odds that they have the same type of eyes" Noah says.

    "I know right? The same color too on the same eye" Chris says.

    "Maybe they are soulmates" Nate says.

    "Maybe" Ian mouths to me smiling with his eyes.

    "I heard my favorite cousin is back to her old self" Chris says as we get to them.

    "That's right" Asher says and I bow, they all laugh. 

    "Does that mean we would see you at the track?" Noah asks.

    "You know it" I say smiling. 

    "I am happy you are back but I am still going to kill the both of them" Conner says referring to Brad and Hailey.

    "What track?" Ian asks curious.

    "Uhh...." Nate trails scratching his neck. The other guys too look away.

    "He's cool guys" I tell them and Ian looks at me, I look away.

    "You sure?" Conner asks.

    "He fights underground" I simply state.

    "Oh then, he's one of us" Noah says and fist bump Ian.

    "The track is what we call our motorcycle race, It's as legal as your fights" Chris says. Ian looks surprised.

    "You ride?" he asks me.

    "She rides" Eli says laughing and the others join him.

    "Oh, you serious?" Nate says seeing Ian's face.

    "She taught us all" Asher says smiling at me. Eli places his arm on my shoulder and I smile at him,

    "Yes, she's the owner of our race club" Conner says.

    "And organizes the races and the money we win" Chris adds.

    "She's basically the boss" Eli adds looking at me with pride. 

    "You guys...." I say sounding touched, "are right"  conclude and laugh. They all laugh too. 

Ian looks at me and I think I see admiration in his eyes. I smile at him and from my peripheral vision, I see Eli look at us. 

    "It's time for tennis" Eli says and we all walk to the tennis court.

    "Lily and I against who?" Asher asks.

    "Not fair, you guys are good" Nate says folding his arm.

    "Yeah" Noah agrees with him.

    "I'd play against you" Connor says confidently. 

    "I'm out" Chris says.

    "Eli?" I ask and he shakes his head.

    "I'd play" Ian says and joins Conner on the court.

    "Let's take them down" Conner says and high fives Ian.

    "That's the plan" Ian says smiling evilly. 

    "Ready?" Connor asks.

    "Give me a minute" I say and get off the court. I start to put my hair in a pony tail when Eli comes over to help me. I involuntarily look over at Ian and he looks pissed. Eli helps me pack my hair and he does a good job as always, this isn't the first time Eli would pack my hair. Eli comes to my front and puts his baseball hat on my head, adjusting it. 

    "Thanks" I say and walk back to the court.

    "No problem" he calls after me.

    "You guys are going down" Asher and I say at the same time to Connor and Ian.

I didn't know Ian was good at long tennis, he gave Ash and I a run for our money but at the end of the day, we won.

    "Yes!" Asher and I shout at the same time when we won.

    "No!" Connor shouts and we laugh at him.

    "Basketball?" Nate offers.

    "I'm out but I would cheer" I tell them.

We are walking to the basketball court when Ian pulls me aside. 

    "Yes?" I ask. 

    "Are you still upset?" he asks and I shrug at him. He should figure it out.

    "What do you want?" I ask.

    "I don't like seeing him on you"

    "What are you talking about?" I ask.  He removes Eli's hat from my head and looses my ponytail. "What did you do that for?" I ask my hair falling. He doesn't answer me, just places his own cap on my head. He adjusts it till it is proper placed.

    "Much better" he says stepping back to admire his work. "I like you in my things" he whispers in my ear.

    "What is wrong with Eli's hat, it's doing the same job" ask.

    "It matters to me" he says. "Let's go" he adds and we join the group. Ian puts on Eli's cap.

I am currently on the bench watching the guys play. Asher, Eli and Chris are a team, Nate, Ian and Noah, the other team. Conner is the referee. Asher's team is leading by a lot. Nate is slowing down Ian's team. He is good at basketball, don't get me wrong but Asher, Eli and Chris play professional basketball in school. Nate doesn't. Nate slips and falls, the guys rush over to him carrying him to the bench, his ankle is strained not broken, thank goodness. I get the ice for his ankle, we have some on standby.

    "You got that ice on time" Ian says when I get back and place the ice on Nate.

    "We have first aid on standby when we play any sport" Conner says.

    "It gets pretty rough" Eli joins.

    "One of our dad's friends is a doctor and he is always on standby" Asher says. "we even have a pager to call him when necessary". Asher shows Ian the pager.

    "We had to be prepared when one of us almost dies from internal bleeding when playing baseball" Noah says.

    "The batter hit the ball with so much force and it hit the pitcher instead" Chris says.

    "Who is the pitcher?" Ian asks and they all look at me. "Lily?" Ian asks.

    "Yes and our batter is Brad" Eli says.

    "Another reason to hate that guy" Connor says.

    "We had to rush her to the hospital, she had a few broken ribs and had to get surgery cause there was internal bleeding" Asher says. 

    "Lily was always home to recover and she was just getting better when Brad cheated on her with Hailey" Noah says. He didn't have to add that. Yes, it's true, the injury and surgery was my segue to being a house fly, I had to recover from surgery and I was just getting better when I find out Brad was cheating on me with Hailey, made the transformation to being an housefly easier.

    "Let me get this straight, Brad injures Lily and then cheats on her?" Ian asks his hand balled into a fist.

    "Yes" Ash says and Ian looks over at me. I shrug and look away. 

    "Can we stop talking about this, are we playing the game or not?" I tell them.

    "If you replace me" Nate says with puppy dog eyes.

    "Ugh, fine" I say. I remove my top revealing my sport b*a. I turn Ian's cap to the back and join the guys on the court.

I play basketball very well, I am tooting my own horn. I shoot again and we win, tying us with Asher's team. Ian gives me an high five. It's almost game time and I shoot again scoring. We win. Ian opens his arms and I run to him wrapping my legs around his waist hugging him.

    "We won" he says holding me. 

    "Why?!!" Asher says.

    "Why did you have to injure yourself?" Eli asks Nate who just laughs. I get of off Ian. 

    "I got to know you in a new way" Ian says. "Made new memories"

    "That's the point of Sunday Barbecue" Eli says placing his arm on my shoulder. Ian seems interested in the fact that Eli's arms are on me, he just stares at Eli's arm on my shoulder. I try to walk away from Eli's arm but he wouldn't let me go.

    "Dodgeball anyone?" Eli asks looking at Ian and I just know this will not end well.

    "I'm down" Ian says. Everyone is in except me, I join Nate on the bench, his ankle is feeling better but it's still going to swell. We watch the guys play their dodgeball each trying to not get hit while also throwing the ball so hard. Asher, Ian and Chris on one team, Eli, Conner and Noah on the other team. 

Ian looks over at me getting distracted, Eli uses the opportunity to throw the ball at Ian.

    "Watch out" I tell Ian, he turns around but it's too late, the ball hits him in the face. I run over to Ian.

    "Why did you do that?!" I shout at Eli. I examine Ian's face, there is a cut on his lips, thank goodness his nose isn't broken.

    "What?" Eli asks.

    "You know he wasn't looking" I shout at him.

    "That was underhanded" Asher says and Eli just shrugs walking away.

    "I think we've played enough" Conner says and we all walk back to the house. We get there as the table is being set.

    "How was it?" dad asks when they see us.

    "Seeing has Nate is limping and Ian is bleeding, it went really well" my grandma says. She believes that it is only when you are injured that you truly played your best. I have a weird family.

    "Let's get you cleaned up" I tell Ian and lead him to the kitchen. Nate had used up all the ice we took along. I sit him down on the island high chair and bring the first aid kit. I clean the cut on his lips.

    "I feel like you are my personal doctor" Ian says. 

    "No talking" I say and Ian smiles. He puts his hand on my waist and draws me to him placing me between his legs.

    "Better" he says smiling. I place my hand on his jaw and I apply the ointment gently on the cut using a cotton bud. I finish applying the ointment and find myself brushing my finger over his lips. 

What am I doing? 

We just stay there looking at each other.

    "You might be my soulmate" he says looking at me.